Lady Antebellum paid a touching tribute to fellow country artist Luke Bryan on Tuesday night during the CMT Artists of the Year celebration.
Luke Bryan was unable to attend, nor accept his Artist of the Year award, due to a recent death in his family, but that doesn’t mean that the artist was not celebrated, according to Billboard .
“One of my buddies, Luke Bryan, is not here tonight, dealing with some family stuff in Georgia,” Aldean said after accepting his Artist of the Year trophy from his soon-to-be tourmate Kenny Chesney. “Just want to say I’m thinkin’ about you, you and your family. Our thoughts and prayers are with you all. Hurry back to the country music world.”
Lady Antebellum provided one of the more touching tributes to her fellow country singer. According to People Magazine , Lady Antebellum and songwriter Chris Stapleton reportedly moved the audience to tears with their rendition of Luke’s song, “Drink a Beer,” which reportedly is a song in honor of his late brother and sister.
“Family comes first, and Luke’s family faced a tragic loss this weekend with the death of his brother-in-law, Lee. So tonight, we are performing a song that’s very special to Luke, with the writer and one of the best singers in Nashville, Chris Stapleton,” said Lady A’s Charles Kelley. “Luke, we’re thinking of you and love you,” added Hillary Scott.
These touching messages didn’t go unnoticed by Luke, oh no. In fact, he took to his Twitter to post a message of his own.
That was amazing. Truly. Thank you Charles, Dave, Hillary and Chris! Beautiful!!! Thank you fans for your love.
— Luke Bryan (@LukeBryanOnline) December 3, 2014
In an earlier report by the Inquisitr , Luke Bryan reportedly had to cancel his appearance at the Artists of the Year celebration because of the passing of his brother-in-law Ben Lee Cheshire. Ben was significant to the singer because he was the husband to Luke’s late sister, Kelly, who was found dead in her home only days after their brother Chris was killed in a car accident.
Luke reportedly played a large role in his brother-in-law’s funeral ceremony, as it’s believed that he was co-officiating the whole thing.
Lady Antebellum and the rest of the country stars who took part in the Artists of the Year ceremony were all correct when they said that family comes first.
[Image via Popsugar Ent Twitter Feed ]